Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians told FoxSports.com on Wednesday he believes that NFL players and coaches would be accepting of an openly gay player, but he's not so sure fans would feel the same way.

"I don't think the locker room would have any problem with it," Arians said in a telephone interview with the website. "The problem would be with the fans. I think especially opposing fans. Some of the things that are said are over the top and out of control that I can imagine what some fans would say to an openly gay player."

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Seriously, though. Look at the comment section on any article/youtube video. Homophobia is far from dead. No one will cop to it these days without the shield of internet anonymity or buffered by a large crowd, but plenty of people are not cool with it.

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i've said this before. America has a tendency of being the last place to do something "progressive" but the first to pat themselves on the back when they finally get something right. A gay NFL player making it that far in the profession with all of the homophobia he/she has more than likely witnessed/experienced is the definition of character and perserverence. That takes balls. But mob America will poo on this person. Jackie Robinson comes to mind. And yes there is a similarity between race and sexuality in this context. Once a gay player comes out, and plays, over time it won't be as much of an issue. It will open doors for many.

I want this team to be the best it can be. For example, if the rumors are true about Kerry Rhodes and he can help this team. Sign that dude. My only hope is that the rest of the Panthers organization and fans would support him.

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I think there are a number of players who would take issue with a gay teammate, unfortunate but true.

i just meant in the circumstance that the gay player was out. So he wasn't hiding anything. The JR comparisons ring true because they would both experience vitriol from the fans. That's all that i meant by that.

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I don't care if you pitch, catch, spit or swallow as long as you can run fast, catch, tackle or keep from getting tackled.

The biggest thing for me is I just don't want to hear about it non stop from every outlet and publication on the planet.

So what if some football dude smokes pole? It's not like its a performance enhancer or anything.

I pay to see football, not attend a civil rights lecture. There are other venues for that. Also, ignoring things of this nature is why we have sports in the first place, to forget about all this serious poo for 3 hours once a week. So please spare me the activist rhetoric and let me watch the game in peace.

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i just meant in the circumstance that the gay player was out. So he wasn't hiding anything. The JR comparisons ring true because they would both experience vitriol from the fans. That's all that i meant by that.

There would certainly be some ignorant groups of fans, but I also think there would be many more in support of the player. Sports in general can sadly bring out the worst in people but not all fans are irrational deranged bigots.

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I understand why people don't like the gays....gay only became cool like 5-7 years ago. I remember the Ellen show and it was such a big deal that a homosexual was the star in a sitcom and that was in 1997. America at one time not long ago was a mostly Christian nation and you would never hear anybody speak bad about god or the bible(not anymore)...and those folks you will never change.

I personally dont give a poo one way or the other if you are gay or not

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There would certainly be some ignorant groups of fans, but I also think there would be many more in support of the player. Sports in general can sadly bring out the worst in people but not all fans are irrational deranged bigots.

no doubt. Thats why i said "mob America." I probably should have said "in general" or something like that. I mean were in the Carolina's